Younglings: The Later Years
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: AU. What became of the younglings from the season 3 Trandoshan and season 5 Ilum story arcs after their adventures were over? Occasionally has a few spiritual elements, especially towards the end.


_This takes place in an alternate TCW universe, where Order 66, the Empire, and Darth Vader do not occur, so it's meant mainly for fun; I hope I don't offend anyone who has a favorite youngling in TCW._

_This is an update as to what happened to the three adolescent younglings hunted by Trandoshans and the six younger younglings who adventured with Ahsoka Tano and Hondo Ohnaka after their respective adventures._

* * *

_Katooni Malliwi, the Tholothian youngling_ – She attended the healing classes in the Jedi Temple after it was discovered that she had an aptitude for healing injuries and curing illnesses. Master Stass Allie, another Tholothian healer, was her mentor, and showed her how to hone her talents with the Living Force perfectly. After five years of training and discipline, Katooni was accepted into the Circle of Jedi Healers alongside Allie and Knight Barriss Offee, and she saved many lives on war-torn and subjugated planets throughout the galaxy. She agreed with Ahsoka Tano that attachment shouldn't be forbidden in the Jedi Order, and boldly admitted to her crush on fellow Padawan Petro before the Jedi High Council. Ahsoka supported her beliefs, and eventually, so did Anakin Skywalker, but the Council, especially Masters Windu and Yoda, were unbending in their convictions. So Katooni, who had just helped to save Petro from a brush with the dark side of the Force, determined to leave the Jedi Order with him after he voiced his own agreement with her position, and they did, though Katooni did not give up her connection to the Force. They moved to Alderaan and lived in the mountains near Aldera City by a tranquil lake, where they lived happily to the end of their days, though they still kept in touch with their four former-youngling friends.

* * *

_Petro Fitzfalg, the human youngling_ – He was impetuous and daring, always looking for ways to impress his Jedi Masters. He became an expert in Morichro, one of the more forbidden practices of the Force in the Order, and tended to misuse it, hurting some of the ordinary citizens he came across outside the Temple and even causing a five-year-old boy to stop breathing once. Jedi Healers Allie and Barriss, with help from Petro's friend Katooni, saved the youngling's life, but Petro was consumed with guilt, and after a reprimand from the entire Council, sat in his chamber weeping, wishing he had never acquired this power. Master Yoda said that if only Master Yaddle were still alive, she could teach him how to control his powers. However, although Yaddle didn't come back from the dead to talk to him, Katooni wanted to help. As Petro started to fall into depression, he was suddenly influenced by the dark side of the Force, being urged by it to take his own life, because he was no good to anyone. Just before he could though, one day, Katooni came into his room, and he told her about his shame. Katooni hugged and comforted him that entire night, and confessed her love for him. That was enough to pull him back from the dark side, and later, he left the order with her to live on Alderaan. They had three half-human, half-Tholothian children, and lived happily to the end of their days.

* * *

_O-Mer, the Cerean youngling_ – He tended to take after Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, who was his personal hero in the Jedi Order. As a Cerean and a Jedi, he loved unspoiled nature and had great respect for life, and was not pleased by the way the Clone Wars had ravaged Cerea. Like Ki-Adi, he didn't like the technological Outsider's Citadels on the planets, either. When he was old enough for his words and actions to make a difference, O-Mer worked alongside Ki-Adi to heal and rebuild Cerea, as well as to remove the Outsider's Citadels, which they both believed were corrupting too many young Cereans who were supposed to love untainted nature, according to their culture. Although they were not able to tear down all of the Citadels, they did manage to convince most Cerean children and adolescents to pay attention to the ecosystems of their world, though O-Mer was able to satisfy their curiosity about technology a little by designing a low-tech machine that could clone plants and animals similarly to the Ithorian cloning technology used to sustain life on Ithor. Just before his passing, old Ki-Adi-Mundi commended O-Mer on his efforts to help Cerea, and assured him that one day, he would have an honorable seat on the Jedi Council, too. Like Ki-Adi, O-Mer had several wives and children to contribute to saving the Cerean race from extinction, though like Ki-Adi, he was not very attached to them.

* * *

_Gungi, the Wookiee youngling_ – As a Wookiee, he was not only to be trained in the ways of the Jedi, but also in the tribal culture of his own people, which meant that he had to go through a "rite of passage" a few years after the adventure on Ilum. He had passed it to a T, but not without dire consequences. He had insisted on taking along a few Wookiee cubs with him who wanted to see adventure with him, wrongly believing that as a Jedi, nothing bad could ever happen to them. As a result, an enormous snake native to Kashyyyk called an anakkona attacked his group and ate one of the cubs before Gungi could kill it. Gungi was crushed, especially after his Jedi Masters scolded him for bringing untrained, non-Force using Wookiee children into the rite of passage with him. The cub's parents were not too pleased either, wondering if Jedi could always be trusted when associating with non-Jedi. But before Gungi left Kashyyyk with the Masters, a young adult Wookiee named Chewbacca gave him and the dead cub's parents counseling about how he understood these sorts of things, explaining that he was foolish himself once as an adolescent and got a Wookiee cub killed by a Wookiee slaver. Gungi was comforted, and the parents' anger cooled toward him, and the little Wookiee youngling promised never to put anyone in unnecessary danger again. After that, Gungi eventually became a Padawan, and later, a Knight, and regained his honor and that of his home world, praising the Force the whole time.

* * *

_Jinx, the Twi'lek youngling_ – Jinx's life, in contrast with the others', took a downward spiral, and it did so rather early in his life after the incident on Island Four. He was grateful to be back at the Temple, just like his long-time companion, O-Mer, but he could never quite get his resentment for the Trandoshan hunters out of his mind completely. When he took lightsaber classes with Jedi swordmaster Cin Drallig, he tended to get mad and strike with more ferocity than was normal for a Jedi when Drallig would bait him in their duels. Jinx was ultimately expelled from lightsaber practice, and sat in his chamber brooding, cursing the deceased Trandoshans for kidnapping him and his friends in the first place. Ahsoka noticed his moodiness and tried to help him, but Jinx would not be helped, and he began to lose it more and more. Finally, one night, he stole a saber belonging to librarian Jocasta Nu and assaulted Obi-Wan Kenobi in his quarters. Anakin Skywalker intervened and almost killed Jinx, but Obi-Wan stopped him and attempted to convince Jinx to let go of his pain and go back to the light of the Force. Unfortunately, Jinx didn't want to go back, saying that life was cruel, and he wasn't going to stand for it anymore. Then, before either Jedi could stop him, he impaled himself with his stolen lightsaber, dying almost instantly. His funeral was attended by many Jedi, including O-Mer, Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the whole Council. He would be missed.

* * *

_Zatt, the Nautolan youngling_ – This little guy not only proved to be a strong Jedi, but also a great expert in technology, him being a born tech expert and all. As he gradually moved up in the ranks of the Jedi, he started to study solar power, and how it could grant power to even the smallest machines that people used. After successfully inventing a half-solar-powered lightsaber for himself, the Republic Military became interested in the possibilities of what could be done with such power. Zatt, believing that they were going to use his machines for small battles and humanitarian purposes, couldn't refuse the offer, though the Jedi Council, particularly Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda, warned him to be careful what he helped them create, because weapons were not creative, but destructive, and destruction was not the Jedi way. Republic Admiral Terrinald Screed, a man with one mechanical eye, requested a solar-powered cloaking device for his sector army's entire fleet of starships, including for his ARC-170's and _Nimbus_-class V-Wings, and Zatt delivered. Zatt turned down every offer of wealth, but was very proud of his achievements. He also made a blaster that could fire indefinitely without a supply of tibanna gas; it just had to be hooked up for recharge after each battle. One day, however, an IG-designed assassin droid attempted to ambush him. The clone troopers shot down the droid with their new blasters, but then the droid self-destructed, killing the troopers. Zatt realized that he had not been as careful with his inventions as he had thought, hurting people instead of helping them, and after a formal apology to the Council, he retired early from his career as a tech wiz and concentrated solely on his studies. By the time he became a Knight, he was convinced that he had redeemed himself, but his actions still haunted him from time to time until his passing.

* * *

_Ganodi, the Rodian youngling_ – She had grown up as a youngling who did not feel hope easily, but with the finding of her crystal, she had become more faithful to the Force, and looked for a way she could repay the Force by bringing hope to the other people of the galaxy. Her favorite thing to do, besides practice serving the Force, was to pilot starships, and it occurred to her that she could become a great starfighter pilot. Ganodi trained under such legendary pilots as Anakin, Plo Koon, and Saesee Tiin, until her reflexes became some of the fastest and most able in the whole Order. She then flew an Eta-2 _Actis_-class light interceptor into many battles with terrorists, pirates, smugglers, and Separatist holdouts after the Clone Wars, becoming the youngest household name among the Jedi since Anakin and Ahsoka. She fought with gusto, relishing every battle while showing enough restraint so as not to get careless or overconfident. However, one time she did become a little reckless and wiped out a whole convoy of Mandalorian frigates, inspiring the ire of the violent, legendary warriors. She fought back with all the Force power she could muster, but the Mandos were getting the upper hand. Anakin and Plo joined her and attempted to save her life, but she said that it was her mistake, destroying more than was necessary in the mission and earning the hatred of the Jedi's deadliest enemies, and it was by her will that she should make up for it. Bidding the other Jedi pilots goodbye, she lured the Mando fighters behind her and flew towards an asteroid, fooling them into thinking she was doing a suicide run. But then, she hit the brakes, and more than half of the enemy crashed into the big rock. A few didn't, however, and Ganodi told Anakin and Plo to let her do her sacrifice, and then, she opened her comm to an open channel, and said her last words: _"I'm one with the Force, and the Force will endure forever."_ Finally, she barrel-rolled into the bridge of the Mandalorian capital ship, taking it down and allowing the other pilots to drive off the rest of the teed-off soldiers. Anakin was particularly stirred by her death, and took down the rest of the enemy fighters almost single-handedly, before the rest retreated. A memorial was held in her honor, with Ahsoka delivering the eulogy, though she could have sworn she saw a vision of Ganodi in her mind talking to her through the Force. That gave Ahsoka and Yoda a lot to talk about later.

* * *

_Byph, the Ithorian youngling_ – His older life bore some resemblance to that of O-Mer, in that they were both nature-lovers and wanted to see the galaxy's flora and fauna endure for as long as absolutely possible. Byph's life, though, had a few different turns than O-Mer's. He went through several stages of further overcoming his fear of monsters by having encounters with some "monstrous" animals, like rancors, wampas, gundarks, and the sarlacc in Tatooine's Pit of Carkoon. He began to realize that the beasts of the wild were not evil monsters that were always out to get him, but just non-sentient (or semi-sentient) life forms doing what they did best, living and surviving. He began to take a keener interest in the Ithorian Law of Life than he did as a little boy, learning about the preciousness of life and how even Ithorian Jedi had to make sure that life lived rather than died. One day, he met a rogue Ithorian named Momaw Nadon, who still kept in touch with his roots, and Nadon taught Byph how to care for bafforr trees, the most sacred form of flora on Ithor, and how the Ithorian species had a spiritual connection with it. After learning some of these lessons, Byph decided that perhaps reminding the Jedi about how they had to value life after so many years of fighting in a war might redeem the Order's image and bring it back in line with the Living Force. He tried it, and slowly but surely, the Jedi started to put aside their former war-like ways, becoming peacemakers again. The spiritual Lurmen leader, Tee Watt Ka, congratulated Byph for proving to him and the galaxy at last that the Jedi could still be peacekeepers. After that, Byph lived a humble life of servitude to the Force through his charitable affection for nature and its preservation.

* * *

_Kalifa, the Corellian human youngling_ – There's not much to say about her, seeing how she was murdered by a vengeful Trandoshan hunter before she could escape Island Four. She was always the angriest of these nine younglings, and proved it in front of Ahsoka after meeting her by partly strangling a Trandoshan hunter to death. Kalifa was always the saddest one, too, being trapped on Island Four for so long, and just when it seemed she stood a chance of escaping, a bloodthirsty hunter took it away from her forever. Only she knew where she was after her death. And yet, one night, when Ahsoka was asleep, recuperating from her experiences on that island, the Padawan could swear that she saw Kalifa in her dream. There she was, wearing the same clothes she had worn on Island Four, but now they were clean and in one piece, and her skin was clean, too, and there was something on her face that Ahsoka had never seen before. A smile. This happened before Ganodi's death, obviously, but it was Ahsoka's first hint that there was life after death for Jedi, and possibly other people, too. Kalifa looked right at Ahsoka in her dream and said, _"Thank you, Ahsoka." _Then suddenly, Ahsoka thought she saw someone else, another, older Jedi standing behind Kalifa, with long hair, a well-trimmed beard, and a serene smile. He said, _"Tell your Master and Master Yoda that love is the answer to the darkness, young Ahsoka Tano."_ Ahsoka woke and couldn't go back to sleep, thinking about that vision all night, and in the morning, Anakin and Yoda confirmed that the man she had seen was Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He was always the maverick of the Jedi Order, the loose cannon, the risk taker, and the compassionate helper, and everyone else wondered how he did it all in a complacent era. Only he knew, and perhaps Kalifa knew now, and Ahsoka hoped that one day, she would know too, her being a loose cannon and a maverick herself…


End file.
